Potential buyer emerges for Trenton Marriott

TRENTON — The man who helped bring pizza to the Soviet Union is looking for a whole new slice of pie.

International businessman Shelley M. Zeiger said Thursday he is interested in buying the struggling Trenton Marriott.

“My assessment of the situation is a hotel should not be owned by government,” the 77-year-old said in an interview at the city’s only hotel. “A business has got to be governed by business people.”

The Poland native spent 11 years being involved with bringing the Marriott to the capital city.

Zeiger said he feels morally obligated to step up to the plate after its current financial struggles.

The 197-room hotel, which opened in 2002, is plagued with approximately $30 million in debt, which includes a $14 million city bond, a combined $9 million in state loans and more than $7.3 million owed in a note to the Trenton Parking Authority.

Marriott and the current management group are pulling out of the location in June, leaving the city faced with decision to spend nearly $3 million in renovations and transition costs to bring a new franchise to the location.

Zeiger said his interest in the property is based on one contingency.

“I would be interested if we can collectively get the support — not financial support — from the state and Gov. Chris Christie,” Zeiger said. “Since the governor is very much involved in developing jobs and business in the state, I think this would be a good example of supporting something in their capital city.”

The Morristown resident said he would also look to turn the Marriott into a first-class hotel.

“Government is the key to the success once it is brought up to the standard of a four-star hotel,” Zeiger said, noting the lack of corporations in the city. “The government is the backbone of this city.”

Zeiger is familiar with rubbing elbows with the elite.

He helped broker the first U.S.-U.S.S.R private joint venture by bringing American Astro Pizza to the communist country.

It was the first pizza company in the Soviet Union.

“We had to teach them how to fold it and eat it,” Zeiger said. “They were going to eat it with forks and knives.”

Due to the success of the partnership, he opened a restaurant in Moscow called TrenMos.

The Holocaust survivor said he has lived the American dream.

In 1960, his family started its first business by opening Admiral Wine and Liquor in Trenton.

Through his connections to Russia, he sat on two boards with Bill Marriott, executive chairman of Marriott International.

Zeiger’s son, Jeff, ran the Trenton Marriott for one year as it was transitioning from a Marriott-managed hotel to a franchise.

Zeiger said unfortunate circumstances, such as opening shortly after 9/11 when the market was soft and the stock market crash 2008, really hurt the hotel.

“Certain people that oversee the well being of this facility are very good people, but they don’t know the business and the challenges,” he said. “As quickly as it becomes the most popular place, it can diminish in it’s popularity by not controlling it from the appetizer to the dessert.”

The businessman said the height of operations at the Trenton Marriott was from 2002 until 2005.

Zeiger said he was unable to provide a current value of the hotel.

He said he plans to reach out to Christie and Mayor Tony F. Mack after his international business partners visit the location in the coming weeks.

“This is almost as important as city hall and the Statehouse because it is the face of the city,” Zeiger said.